Imaguan Football Association

Imaguan Football Association

Most recent season or competition: 2022 Arucian Football Association Season
File:Imaguan Football Association logo.png
Sport	Arucian football
Founded	August 15, 1945 (1945-08-15)
Inaugural season	1946
President	Ken Griffith
No. of teams	9
Country	Imagua and the Assimas
Most recent champion(s)	FC Lundholm (2022)
Most titles	FC Cuanstad Dockworkers (38 Hegan Cups)
TV partner(s)	Imaguan Television Service
Relegation to	no

The Imaguan Football Association (Vespasian: Federazione di football Imagua), also known as IFA (FFI) is the primary Arucian football league of Imagua and the Assimas. Founded in 1945 as part of an effort to bring the United Provinces closer together, the Imaguan Football Association holds both a regular season, and the annual Hegan Cup among the top performers of the regular season. The winner of the Hegan Cup goes to compete in the Arucian Football Association-organised Arucian Cup.

History

Origins

The origins of the Imaguan Football Association date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the spread of Arucian football by sailors from Sainte-Chloe to both Cuanstad and San Pietro. The first teams to play the game arose in the early 1920s, with FC Cuanstad Dockworkers and AP San Pietro being the first teams to emerge, with these teams originating among dockworkers in these cities.

The sport's popularity would grow during the Great War under Gaullican occupation of Imagua and the Assimas, and by the war's conclusion, discussions began on creating a league on the island of Imagua. However, economic reconstruction following Gaullican occupation, and the subsequent outbreak of the Solarian War in 1942 hampered any serious efforts to create an Arucian football league on the island.

Formation and early years

Selwyn Moore, 1947

In August 1945, representatives from FC Cuanstad Dockworkers, FC Hochester, FC Colton, and FC Nua Taois would meet in Bronstad in February 1945 to discuss the formation of an Arucian football league for Imagua. With the effective occupation of the Assimas, and expectations that they would be annexed into Imagua, the four teams decided to invite AP San Pietro to join the organisation, with the AP San Pietro team accepting. After the formation of the four-member Imaguan Football Association, and with backing from the government of the United Provinces, it would join the Arucian Football Association.

Thus, the Imaguan Football Association began competition in 1946, with four matches between every team, with the top two teams competing in a final to advance to the Arucian Cup. This final would be officially named the [{#Hegan Cup|Hegan Cup]] in 1947 in honour of Lionel Hegan, the President of the United Provinces, and a backer of the Imaguan Football Association.

During its early years, the Imaguan Football Association functioned semi-professionally, with FC Colton often "on the brink" of bankruptcy. However, the Imaguan Football Association began to gain popularity, particularly as the major Arucian football clubs in Imagua, FC Cuanstad Dockworkers and AP San Pietro, were seen as the best clubs in the association. Major players during this period included Vitale Garcea, Kirk Jones, and Selwyn Moore.

Golden Age

In the early 1960s, the Imaguan Football Association entered what many fans deemed a "golden age," with common startpoints being the FC Cuanstad Dockworkers being the first team not from Sainte-Chloe or Carucere to win the Arucian Cup in 1962, the 1964 expansion, which saw teams from Altaithe, Bronstad, Lundholm, and Rutigliano being admitted into the Imaguan Football Association, or the 1965 reforms that changed the season and Hegan Cup to its current format.

During the 1960s, the Imaguan Football Association benefitted from the rise of television, with Imaguan Television Service broadcasting every match from the 1963 season. In 1965, as the original format was deemed to be too unweildy, as the number of matches went from 20 matches per season from 1946 to 1963, to 36 matches in the 1964 season, the format was reworked so that the regular season was cut to 18 games, with each team playing against each other twice. This affected the Hegan Cup, which changed from being a match between the top two teams to its current format where the top four play semi-finals against each other, and the winners then play against each other in a final. The following year, the board of directors ordered that the minimum salary be "enough so that the players do not need a second job," making the Imaguan Football Association a fully professional league, although by that point, only Bronstad, Colton, and Rutigliano were semi-professional teams.

Furthermore, the 1960s was seen as a period of dominance by the Cuanstad Dockworkers, with the Dockworkers winning the Hegan Cup seven times in the decade alone, a six year stretch from 1961 to 1967, and then again in 1969, with AP San Pietro only winning thrice (1960, 1961, and 1968). In the 1970s, AP San Pietro would gain dominance, with San Pietro winning the Hegan Cup from 1973 to 1977, although FC Cuanstad Dockworkers would win in 1970, 1972, and the 1978-1979 period. Notable players during this era include Goffredo Capalbo, Kenneth Jackson, and Karlus Long.

Reforms

Tobias Wilson in 2014

With the Recession of 1980 hitting the West Arucian, the Imaguan Football Association found itself in serious financial trouble: while the 1980 seasons and the 1981 seasons went on as planned, FC Colton, who had always struggled financially, was forced to declare bankruptcy at the end of the 1981 season. When Tobias Wilson, a millionaire and fishing magnate, approached the Imaguan Football Association with an offer to create a new team, the Association agreed to permit it.

Wilson would set his team in Bellmare, partially because he believed that Bellmare "was fertile ground" for Arucian football, and because Cuanstad "could only support two clubs." This led to the creation of FC Bellmare, who made its debut in 1982. FC Bellmare would make its first appearance at the Hegan Cup in 1984, and would win its first Hegan Cup in 1985. This led to other teams to begin reforming their internal governance to be more in line with the "super-teams." By the end of the 1980s, only FC Bronstad and FC Lundholm were still owned by the fans, with most of the rest being governed by individuals or corporate entities.

While FC Bellmare won three Hegan Cups (1985, 1986, 1989) in the 1980s, the Cuanstad Dockworkers also won thrice (1980, 1983, 1984), FC Nua Taois won twice (1981 and 1982), as did AP San Pietro (1987 and 1988), with the decade not being too dominated by any one team as the previous two were.

The 1990s saw a resurgence of Cuanstad Dockworkers domination, with the Dockworkers winning five Hegan Cups in the 1990s (1990, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999), with only AP San Pietro (1991 and 1997) and FC Hochester (1995 and 1996) winning more than one Hegan Cup in that decade. Some fans, especially for the Cuanstad Dockworkers saw the 1990s as being a second golden age for the team. Major players during this period include Evan Bambang, Zak Colabella, and Dion Walcott.

Contemporary era

Well into the 2000s, the Cuanstad Dockworkers remained dominant in the Imaguan Football Association, with the Dockworkers winning the 2001, 2002, 2006, and 2007 Hegan Cups. However, in 2004, FC Altaithe won its first Hegan Cup, making it only the second team from the 1964 expansion, after AP Rutigliano, to win the Hegan Cup.

In 2005, plans were announced to expand the Imaguan Football Association from 9 teams to 12 teams, with the Imaguan Football Association announcing that new teams would be established in Knowleston and New Burdale, while San Pietro would receive a second team, with plans for the new teams to begin competing in 2007. However, these plans were affected by the Recession of 2005, forcing the Imaguan Football Association to "indefinitely postpone" the expansion.

The 2010s saw the two remaining teams in the Imaguan Football Association who had yet to win the Hegan Cup, FC Bronstad and FC Lundholm win their first Hegan Cups, with Bronstad winning its first Hegan Cup in 2013, and FC Lundholm winning its first Hegan Cup in 2019.

Notable players in recent years include Roy Baptiste, Tron Fornberg, and Randy Beharry.

Governance

Association governance

The Imaguan Football Association board of directors is comprised of twelve individuals, with nine individuals elected or appointed by the teams so that each team has one representative, and three individuals elected by the Dockworkers' Union, who serves as the players' union for the Imaguan Football Association. The board of directors is responsible for making major decisions concerning the Imaguan Football Association, such as league expansion, contraction, negotiations with the players' union, all financial affairs concerning the Association itself, and other major areas.

The twelve members of the board of directors elect a President to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Imaguan Football Association for a three-year term, currently Ken Griffith, who was elected in 2022 to succeed George Lavanan.

Team governance

Until the 1980s, most teams in the Imaguan Football Association are owned by the fans, with the only exception being the FC Cuanstad Dockworkers, which was, and continues to be, owned by the Dockworkers' Union. However, following the bankruptcy of FC Colton in 1981, FC Bellmare, a privately-owned venture by Tobias Wilson, a millionaire and fishing magnate, was founded to compete in the 1982 season. This led to most teams becoming owned by corporate entities or individuals by the end of the decade.

Today, of the nine teams in the Imaguan Football Association, four teams are privately owned by individuals (FC Altaithe, FC Bellmare, FC Hochester, and AP Rutigliano), three teams are owned by corporations (FC Nua Taois, FC Lundholm, and AP San Pietro), one is owned by a trade union (FC Cuanstad Dockworkers), and one is still owned by the fans (FC Bronstad).

Players' union

The players' union representing all players in the Imaguan Football Association is the Dockworkers' Union, due to the sport being introduced to Imagua by dockworkers, and due to the extensive role of FC Cuanstad Dockworkers, who is owned by the Dockworkers' Union, in the Imaguan Football Association.

While proposals have been floated to create a separate players' union for the Imaguan Football Association, with an attempt in the late 2010s to decertify the Dockworkers' Union as being the player's union, the vote was defeated 68% to 32% as the move was seen as being "under the influence over the corporate and private owners."

Teams

Logo	Team	City	Stadium	Founded	Joined	Notes
File:FC Altaithe.png	FC Altaithe	Altaithe	Altaithe Oval	1958	1964
File:FC Bronstad.png	FC Bronstad	Bronstad	Bronstad Stadium	1931	1964
File:FC Bellmare.png	FC Bellmare	Bellmare	Bank of the Arucian Stadium	1982	1982	Replaced FC Colton, a founding member of IFA after Colton went bankrupt at the end of the 1981 season.
File:Cuanstad Dockworkers.png	FC Cuanstad Dockworkers	Cuanstad	King's Park Field	1923	1946	Founded by workers associated with the Dockworkers' Union, and is owned by the Dockworkers' Union. Founding member of IFA.
File:FC Hochester.png	FC Hochester	Cuanstad	Hochester Park	1930	1946	Founding member of IFA.
File:FC Lundholm.png	FC Lundholm	Lundholm	City Park	1942	1964
	FC Nua Taois	Nua Taois	Orient Stadium	1927	1946	Founding member of IFA.
	AP San Pietro	San Pietro	Quinzio Cedro Stadium	1921	1946	Founding member of IFA.
	AP Rutigliano	Rutigliano	Rutigliano Field	1945	1964

Season structure

Regular season

The regular season traditionally starts on the first Saturday of June, with games scheduled on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Until the 1963 season, the regular season comprised of 20 matches, meaning that the season continued until the second Saturday of August. However, with the expansion from 4 teams to 9 teams, the 1964 season comprised of 45 matches, which led to the season extending onto the third Saturday of August, with match days being played on Mondays and Thursdays, in addition to the traditional Wednesdays and Saturdays, with one match being played on Sunday in order to meet the expanded schedule.

Since the 1965 season, the regular season is comprised of 18 matches, with every team in the Imaguan Football Association playing two matches against all the other teams. Thus, the regular season now ends on the first Saturday of August.

Hegan Cup

The Hegan Cup at the AP San Pietro offices, 2011

The championship of the Imaguan Football Association is the Hegan Cup (Vespasian: Coppa Hegan), named after the first President of the United Provinces, Lionel Hegan in 1947, although the first final between the top teams of the Imaguan Football Association was held in 1946.

From 1946 until 1964, the top two placements of the Imaguan Football Association's regular season played a single match to determine the winner of the Hegan Cup, with the match being held on the third Saturday of August. In the 1964 season, due to the extended season as a result of five new teams, the Hegan Cup was held on August 29th, the fourth Saturday of August.

Since the 1965 season, the top four in the Imaguan Football Association hold matches on the third week of August. From 1965 until 1971, the semi-finals were held on the Wednesday before the third Saturday, with the first semi-final between the teams in first and second position taking place in the morning, with the second semi-final between the teams in third and fourth taking place in the evening, while the third place match was held on Saturday morning, with the final match taking place on Saturday evening. In 1971, the third-place match was moved to Friday, and in 1974, the semi-finals were swapped so that the morning semi-final were held by third and fourth placed teams, while the evening semi-final involving the first and second placed teams.

In 1998, the semi-finals were held on separate days, with the first semi-final being held on Tuesday, and the second semi-final being held on Wednesday. The following season, coin flips were introduced to determine which semi-finals a team will enter in order to prevent teams from trying to perform poorly to get a "better slot."

The teams with the most appearances at the Hegan Cup are the FC Cuanstad Dockworkers, with 74 appearances in the Hegan Cup, followed by AP San Pietro with 63, FC Nua Taois with 35, and FC Hochester with 27. The teams with the most Hegan Cup victories are the FC Cuanstad Dockworkers with 38 Hegan Cups, AP San Pietro with 17 Hegan Cups, FC Nua Taois with 7 Hegan Cups, and FC Altaithe, FC Bellmare, and AP Rutigliano tied with 3 Hegan Cups.

The winner of the Hegan Cup goes on to compete in the Arucian Cup.